Tag: Winter 2000-01

MISSOURI -- The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a federal appeals court's ruling in September that said the First Amendment rights of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

ARKANSAS -- Valley View School District officials settled a federal lawsuit in August filed by a student suspended for the content of his personal Web site, but all parties involved have refused to release the details of the agreement.

CALIFORNIA -- The governor of California approved a bill in September that creates more specific open-meetings guidelines for student government bodies in the California State University System.

MICHIGAN -- Eleven media outlets, among them the Michigan State University student newspaper, scored a victory in September when the state supreme court unanimously ruled against an East Lansing prosecutor who subpoenaed the media's footage of a March 1999 campus riot.

Ingham County prosecutor Stuart Dunnings wanted the video and still photography of nine TV stations and two newspapers to help build his cases against participants in the riots, which broke out on the East Lansing campus following Michigan State

As the battle over the Internet exchange of digital music rages in the business and legal world, some universities have cracked down on such exchanges on their campuses, while others pointedly defend its use.

INDIANA -- An Indianapolis newspaper filed a lawsuit in October against Indiana University, claiming that the school violated the state's open-records law by refusing to release detailed information related to the firing of longtime basketball coach Bob Knight.

In Marion Superior Court, The Indianapolis Star argued that because Indiana University is a public institution it should be required to disclose all information leading to Knight's dismissal, which was provoked by what the university called "a pattern of unacceptable behavior."

Knight, who won three NCAA men's basketball championships during his tenure at Indiana University, has been the subject of criticism for his legendary temper both on and off the court.

University officials said they withheld information relating to his dismissal on the advice of the state's public access counselor.

"We've complied with the law in all respects," said Susan Dillman, a university spokeswoman.

WISCONSIN -- Reporters at the Marquette Tribune wanted to offer a look inside Milwaukee County's election, and they ended up with the district attorney knocking on their door.

Staffers of Marquette University's student newspaper responded to widespread rumors of voter fraud in the state with investigative reporting that included a survey of 1,000 Marquette students.

The explosion of the Internet continues to send shock waves through the American justice system, as courts mediate disputes between advocates of unregulated cyber-speech and government arms seeking to control such speech.

In recent months, cyber-liberties have prevailed in one federal court case, been limited in another and await final judgment in two others.

In New Mexico, state government officials accepted a November 1999 federal court ruling and laid to rest any possibility of continuing their fight to criminalize the electronic distribution of material deemed harmful to minors.

OKLAHOMA -- A federal appellate court ruled in October that peer grading in schools is prohibited by a federal law that protects the privacy of student "education records."

MONTANA -- Linda Tracy thinks she's a journalist. Missoula prosecutors say she's just a student.